Rousseau's Execution

Description

This work for string trio is inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Dictionnaire de Musique, with each of the three movements initiated by one of Rousseau's musical entries. The first movement, Ouverture, with a tightly dotted rhythm as a feature, gives a sense of competitiveness between the players as the two violins vie against one another. In the second movement, Les Tierces (thirds), a gently combative exchange ensues, arguing for possession of the third with a major-minor disagreement. Peace is restored in the final movement, Chaconne, where melody and a steady tempo play an important role.

Rousseau's Execution

Composer Information

Cecilia McDowall (b.1951)

Born in 1951 and educated at Edinburgh and London Universities, Cecilia McDowall has been described by the International Record Review as having a 'communicative gift that is very rare in modern music'. An award-winning composer, McDowall is often inspired by extra-musical influences, and her choral writing combines rhythmic vitality with expressive lyricism. Her music has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by leading choirs, among them Phoenix Chorale and the Choir of New College, Oxford, and is regularly programmed at prestigious festivals in Britain and abroad.